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Ranebennur situation returns to normal

The situation in Ranebennur town, in Haveri district of Karnataka, where several people were injured in communal clashes and two others in police firing on Tuesday, has returned to normal.

Director General of Police T Srinivasulu said no untoward incident was reported since Tuesday afternoon in the town, where prohibitory orders had been promulgated.

Additional Director General of Police (law and order) T Madiyal is on the spot.

The trouble started when a group of people attacked members of another community who were returning after submitting a memorandum to the tahsildar. The memorandum was in protest against the forcible closure of their shops during a bandh called to condemn the defiling of an Ambedkar statue in Bangarpet on August 2.

Meanwhile, three members of the J H Patel government -- Revenue Minister B Somasekhar, Forests Minister D Manjunath and Health Minister H C Mahadevappa -- appealed to dalit organisations to call off their agitations in protest against the desecration of the statue.

In a joint statement, they said such agitations were affecting the peace and harmony of the state.

Condemning the incident, they said the government had immediately installed another statue and had also ordered an inquiry into the incident.

UNI

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